Sunday, March 31, 2013

It was a close call this week between the reckless policies of the EU and the unhinged actions of Kim Jong Un and North Korea. One could lead to an economic Armageddon and the other a regional nuclear war. Ugh. Let's see those runner ups, containing some doozies themselves.
1)Lindsay Lohan- This trainwreck in action struck again, this time on the set of Charlie's Sheen's sitcom "Anger Management." Seems ole sticky fingers walked away with clothes and jewelery from the set, claiming the producers would take it out of her salary, for which no deal had previously been made. I also hear she was quite the diva on set refusing to come out of her trailer, acting like a spoiled brat and being VERY demanding. Everytime she left the set, the crew would applaud. This girl is damaged beyond repair.

2)Steven Brooks- This Nevada lawmaker lost his mind, literally, and hours after being thrown out of office for "mental instability" (a first in the state by the way), Brooks was arrested after a high speed chase and assaults on several officers and police dog. After his car broke down, the tow truck helping him called police to report the man acting very strange and violent. When police showed up he took off, tire still flat, while throwing things out the window. After a spike strip disabled his car, his wrestled with several officers and tried to attack a police dog with a wrench. Brooks is being held on $100,000 bail on four felony charges including resisting a police officer with force, willful harm to a police service dog, felony evading arrest and throwing objects from a vehicle with intent to harm. Nice. He is still facing several felony and misdemeanors counts from an earlier altercation with the police. Seems like the legislature did the right thing throwing this lunatic out. If only we could do that for most of Congress.
3)Obama- I still hear he is keen on using the Chained CPI index to screw the little guy out of more money in negotiations with Republicans. This cannot be allowed to pass. If this goes through, revolution becomes much more likely.

4)People who harp on Obama Taking Vacations- Obama has a tough job. I have no problem with him going away for a little while wherever he wants to go. But as he is the President, he is still on the job wherever he goes. They do have phones and lap taps outside the White House. By the way, to all the right wing douchebags complaining about the 131 days Obama has taken off so far, Bush Jr took 1020 days over eight years, or three years of vacation. Reagan took over 400. Obama will have tops, 250 by the end of his two terms. This proves my point that Republicans can't count.
5)Dr. W Scott Harrington- This Oklahoma dentist gets the first ever "YUCK" award for exposing as many as 7000 people to AIDS and hep B and C by using unclean, even rusty, equipment. After a patient with no risk factors came down with AIDS and Hep C, health officials traced the problem back to this dentist, who was so cheap he was using medicine twenty years expired, allowed technicians to do complicated procedures and reused needles. EEEWWWWWWWW. I hope that in addition to losing his medical license, he goes to jail for a very long time.
6)Dr. Ben Carson- Speaking of idiot doctors comes this conservative asshole who recently raised everyone's ire by calling homosexuals second class citizens who don't deserve equal rights so as not to upset the "status quo." The most hilarious part about all of this, is that Dr. Ben is black. You could just have as easily inserted the word "nigger" where gay appears and it would be the same talking points made about slavery in 1850's. He compared gays to child molesters as well which, understandably, did not go over well with anyone not a total bigot. These morons keep saying" I am not a bigot but....." after which comes out something super bigoted. The Bible does not give you any recourse about damning gay rights. As a matter of fact, as someone who has studied the Bible closer than most religious scholars here's a dirty little secret: In no passage does God or Jesus condemn homosexuality. Until the 12th century, the Church not only didn't give a rat's ass about gay people, they married them. In Churches. This gay hate crap started during the Dark Ages like the Inquisition, the Crusades and the persecution of pro-science individuals. We call them the Tea Party now.

7) Baltimore PD- A Navy Veteran was shot and wounded after a police officer fired at him as he stood with a shot gun in his back yard. Now the guy was in the wrong, as he shouldn't have been firing a shotgun in his back yard. However, he was trying to get a feel for the weapon after his mother was tied up the previous week in a burglary. The cops never said who they were, according to numerous eyewitnesses, never told the vet to drop his weapon, and basically shot him on sight. That is some awful training. That cop should be fired.
8)U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald- This bitch could be the worst judge ever. Ignoring the fact that the LIBOR scandal destroyed countless lives and ruined many a business and family, she threw out substantial parts of the lawsuit against the Big Banks, including Bank Of America and JP Morgan, that caused the financial disaster they helped create. In her ruling, she said it would be seen as "unexpected" (you think) as many others doing similar actions were fined billions of dollars in the past. Overseas banks like Bank of Scotland paid billions to their government for their criminal actions but not here where the rich walk away scott free no matter what trouble they cause. This woman needs to be removed from the bench.

9)North Korea- Kim Jong Un is throwing a giant temper tantrum, most likely because new sanctions placed on the impoverished country, took away his toys. No more yachts or expensive cars or fine wine. And he is having a hissy fit over it. This is a dangerous situation, worse than the news is reporting it. We keep acting like countries with nukes will behave in a responsible behavior. But when the man at the top is seriously deranged, as Kim Jong Un might be, a madman has his finger on the button. And I am still reading articles saying that if Iran gets nukes, so what. You might want to turn a TV on numnuts because North Korea is showing exactly why a rouge nation should never be allowed to get nukes. They might use them. It is entirely possible that Un is a psychopath, raised on being taught he was a God who could murder or rape without consequences. A person like that, as a leader with nuclear capacities should make everyone on Earth nervous. This is beyond bad right now and we should be really worried about it.
10)EU- Somehow doing even more damage is the EU who have singlehandedly destroyed all faith in our banking system. Cyprus is a disaster area looming into Great Depression territory like Spain and Greece and the steps being taken by the EU will only exacerbate the problem. Iceland showed the problem can be fixed but major steps need to be taken to do it. The EU seems incapable of that. Numbers as high as 80% of bank accounts over $100,000 euros may be taken in the future, which will destabilize the entire European banking system as there is no way people would do business with them ever. With interest rates laughably low, there is little reason to have a bank account in the first place. Many are going to do just that and the entire system stands to lose trillions in capital over the next few months. A bank collapse seems inevitable and with it, a destruction of the derivative market and a freefalling world economy. Awesome. So congratulations EU you are indeed douchebag of the week.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

The US jails approximately 25% of the world's prison population despite only having 5% of the total number. We imprison more people than any other nation on earth, with the next two being Saudi Arabia and Iran. The main reason for this are draconian drug laws that are racist, idiotic and more dangerous than the drugs they are supposed to be protecting us from. The War on Drugs has been a dismal failure with a zero percent success rate since 1970. You read that right 0%. Drugs have not been curtailed, rather they have increased. Prices have remained steadier than any other commodity on the planet. And we have spent trillions in all of this.
The main reason for this continued nonsense is that the prison lobby doesn't want drugs legal as they stand to lose a fortune. And with private prisons all the rage, they have a financial reason for keeping the status quo, and helps screw the populace in the process. Around 130,000 people are in private prisons run as a for profit company and that number is increasing as cash strapped states are looking to foist their prisons off their books and into private companies. The two largest prison companies pull in $3 billion each year and now has one of the largest lobbying organizations. These groups are actively looking for legislation that will out even MORE people in jail and are responsible for "three strikes" and "truth in sentencing " laws that have both driven up incarceration and profits.
Prior to 1980 there were no private prisons. Since then, and the ill advised War on Drugs, population has exploded behind bars, to the tune of 1600%, or 4 times what we saw between 1980 and 2007. Violent crime has been falling, except in some major cities, so the only reason we are seeing this increase is due to drug laws. These people are creating a criminal class that has no hope, no future. This is inevitably a disaster waiting to happen. This is from Investment Watch:

Last year the Corrections Corporation of America(CCA), the nation’s largest private prison company, received $74 million of taxpayers’ money to run immigration detention centers. Their largest facility in Lumpkin, Georgia, receives $200 a night for each of the 2,000 detainees it holds, and rakes in yearly profits between $35 million and $50 million.Prisoners held in this remote facility depend on the prison’s phones to communicate with their lawyers and loved ones. Exploiting inmates’ need, CCA charges detainees here $5 per minute to make phone calls. Yet the prison only pays inmates who work at the facility $1 a day. At that rate, it would take five days to pay for just one minute.

These prisons have found a way to exploit their population with slave labor, which is no better than outsourcing. We are not only competing against the Chinese paying their workers nothing but a huge prison population that can do call center work for a fraction of what they would pay you or me.

According to the Left Business Observer, the federal prison industry produces 100% of all military helmets, ammunition belts, bullet-proof vests, ID tags, shirts, pants, tents, bags, and canteens. Along with war supplies, prison workers supply 98% of the entire market for equipment assembly services; 93% of paints and paintbrushes; 92% of stove assembly; 46% of body armor; 36% of home appliances; 30% of headphones/microphones/speakers; and 21% of office furniture. Airplane parts, medical supplies, and much more: prisoners are even raising seeing-eye dogs for blind people.

At least 37 states have legalized the contracting of prison labor by private corporations that mount their operations inside state prisons. The list of such companies contains the cream of U.S. corporate society: IBM, Boeing, Motorola, Microsoft, AT&T, Wireless, Texas Instrument, Dell, Compaq, Honeywell, Hewlett-Packard, Nortel, Lucent Technologies, 3Com, Intel, Northern Telecom, TWA, Nordstrom’s, Revlon, Macy’s, Pierre Cardin, Target Stores, and many more. All of these businesses are excited about the economic boom generation by prison labor. Just between 1980 and 1994, profits went up from $392 million to $1.31 billion. Inmates in state penitentiaries generally receive the minimum wage for their work, but not all; in Colorado, they get about $2 per hour, well under the minimum. And in privately-run prisons, they receive as little as 17 cents per hour for a maximum of six hours a day, the equivalent of $20 per month. The highest-paying private prison is CCA in Tennessee, where prisoners receive 50 cents per hour for what they call “highly skilled positions.” At those rates, it is no surprise that inmates find the pay in federal prisons to be very generous. There, they can earn $1.25 an hour and work eight hours a day, and sometimes overtime. They can send home $200-$300 per month.
Many of these slave labor comes from juvenile detention centers, accounting for 50% of all centers now privately owned. This is also leading to massive corruption from judges caught sending people to prison for long sentences in exchange for kickbacks. Like this case below in PA:

Michael Conahan, a former jurist in Luzerne County, was sentenced on Friday to 210 months in custody by Senior U.S. District Court Judge Edwin M. Kosik II. Conahan was also ordered to pay $874,000 in restitution. [...] As Main Justice reported in August, Ciavarella, former president judge of the Court of Common Pleas and former judge of the Juvenile Court for Luzerne County, was sentenced to 28 years in prison and ordered to make restitution of $965,930. [...]Conahan’s role in the “cash for kids” scheme was to order the closing of a county-run detention center, clearing the way for Ciavarella, once known as a strict “law and order” judge, to send young offenders to private facilities. This arrangement worked out well for Ciavarella and Conahan, as well as the builder of the facilities and a developer, who pleaded guilty to lesser charges.The arrangement didn’t work out so well for the young offenders, some of them sent away for offenses that were little more than pranks and would have merited probation, or perhaps just scoldings, if the judges had tried to live up to their oaths.

This is a serious problem than no one is worried about. You will be if you get set up to attend one of these private prisons. A few corrupt cops and judges and you could be locked away for a crime you didn't commit for a very long time. How will you feel then?

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Idiot America, particularly anyone from the rabid, toxic Tea party ranks, has led the charge for the end of unions as an obstacle to "free trade." The irony is is that "Free Trade" has not led to the bonanza of riches promised us, unless you belong to the one percent that is. NAFTA has led to the loss of an estimated two million jobs and a huge trade deficit where one did not exist before. A new trade agreement with South Korea is expected to cost another 150,000, and that number is almost certainly, painfully low. This so called "free trade" is doing exactly what Ross Perot and even myself predicted would happen: a critical loss of jobs and a decrease in wages. We were right on both counts. Now that is not to say these free trade agreements are a complete bust. Au contraire, if your net worth is bigger than can be shown on a standard calculator, then those guys made a fortune.
This is the way of the world for as long as I have been around, meaning the deck was stacked against me from birth to actually making a living wage for any substantial period of time. As a matter of fact, several studies have come out showing how little the middle class has gained. If company productivity kept up with wages, the minimum wage would be around $22 an hour. It's still at around $7.00 for most people.

Right now 400 families control 90% of the countries wealth. Since 1966, the bottom 90% have seen their wages increase a pitiful $59. That's it. And it's not like we still have 1966 prices. The top 10% netted a huge $116,047 raise. Not bad. But then there is the one percenters who gained a whopping $18,362,740 raise. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? So the rich have taken everything, left us table scraps and convinced the dopier among us that this is acceptable. Companies are flush with money and CEO's are pulling in record profits while they tell us to make do with less. This has to stop and soon or this country will be a smoldering hole where a thriving democracy once was.
You would have thought that during the last few years of the Neverending Depression we have been in, the rich would have lost ground but no, they are still pulling in record profits. See this from Emmanuel Saez:

From 2009 to 2011, average real income per family grew modestly by 1.7% (Table
1) but the gains were very uneven. Top 1% incomes grew by 11.2% while bottom 99%
incomes shrunk by 0.4%. Hence,
the top 1% captured 121% of the income gains in the first two years of the
recovery. From 2009 to 2010, top 1% grew fast and then stagnated from
2010 to 2011. Bottom 99% stagnated both from 2009 to 2010 and from 2010 to 2011.
In other words, the rich grabbed all the gains in their greedy little hands and told the rest of us to eat cake. Where is the anger? Where is the outrage? Have we become such a stupid people that we can't even tell when the deck is being stacked against us? The reason we are still in this Neverending Depression is the rich are stealing it from us. They are continuing what should have been a solved solution. The Paul Ryan budget plan does just that which every idiot Republican is trying to champion, even though the blue collar workers supporting don't realize it, but it helps sign their death warrant. It would be like the Jews voting to put themselves into the ovens, circa 1940.
Six Walmart family members have a net worth equal to that of 41% of this country. Does that sound fair and equitable to you? Or does it sound like theft? Of you said the latter you win a gold star.

And it's not just CEO's ripping us off. The government isn't immune from this as well, especially if you live in California. Hot on the heels of Bell, CA scandal where the police chief and City Board conspired to give themselves huge raises, comes this nugget from Alameda County. Seems that Susan Muranashi, the County Administrator makes an unheard of sum of almost half a million dollars which she will see for the rest of her life. Yes, you read that right, as Susan's pension plan is going to cost area taxpayers half a million dollars until the day she dies. Must be nice to pay your workers nothing while you get to live in the lap of luxury, Susan. It is exactly these kinds of perks that make people nuts about unions and rightfully so. No one should retire and make more money than they did while working. It should be like SS or disability where you get about a third of your working pay. Otherwise, again, your stealing from us.
Here's something even more outrageous: there are 80 CEO's who have banded together to demand more austerity measures for the government while also lowering their taxes. This is exactly why the Paul Ryan budget plan looked like it did for exactly this reason. The GOP is the Big Business party first and foremost and have evolved into an entity that is both overly religious, against anyone not rich and white, and is slowly dying out. Not fast enough I tell you.

"Fix the Debt" is a new lobbying organization which is directly responsible for the Paul Ryan plan. What they want is lowered corporate tax rates (as if zero isn't enough), the Chained CPI index for calculating inflation, a permanent exemption for oversea profits, all offset by austerity programs for the poor. Like that has worked well in Europe. It is such a photo copy of the Ryan plan, one cannot overemphasize that importance of who really controls the GOP.

Here's a list of ten of the douchebags in this group, none of which will be that surprising.

1.Jeffrey Immelt, General Electric- GE has a tax rate of 2.3% after deductions even though they make about 8 billion a year. They have led the charge in hiding profits in offshore banks, a practice Congress sees no problem with and constantly renews the provision that allows it, six times over the last decade.

2. Jim McNerney, Boeing -Boeing was one 25 firms that paid their CEO more than their paid in taxes last year. Boeing has only paid taxes twice in the last ten years despite making an average of five billion a year. Research subsidies help lower the costs but represent R&D the company would have done anyway.3. Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sachs -Tell me you're surprised by this guy being on the list. He gives Jewish bankers a bad name everywhere. Goldman Sachs is one of the most evil entities on the planet, with their bad decision making being one of the prime factors that led up to the 2008 stock market crash. He has constantly fought against the Wall Street tax, which I showed that even a less than one percent tax would have raised several trillion dollars in needed revenue. This guy is a dick.

4. Brian T. Moynihan, Bank of America-Speaking of dicks, this ass almost single handedly drove this business into the ground when he called for higher costs on bank accounts and debit cards. After more than a million people left, including everyone in my family, they wisely called it off. But the damage was already done, much like Cyprus, and they still are having problems. Their stock dropped by 58% and 30,000 employees lost their jobs. Douchebag however, saw his pay raised to $8 million. Nothing like running your company into the ground and getting paid for it.5. David Cote, Honeywell Corporation -Another company that not only doesn't pay any taxes, despite a five billion dollar profit, but got back $377 million in tax breaks. Unbelievable. This douche has been a huge supporter of the Ryan Budget plan and has been lobbying for measures that would benefit him and his company while costing taxpayers over a trillion and a half dollars over the next ten years.

6. Randall Stephenson, AT&T -This is company that once black mailed me for a hundred dollars to set up a phone line because they said I had no credit, even though I owned several credit cards in good standing, had an excellent credit rating and even had statements saying such from various companies. But they wouldn't budge and I had to fork over the money. Since then, I have wanted nothing to do with them and, it looks like with good reason. They were also another company that paid nothing in taxes and got $420 million back.

7. Arne Sorenson, Marriott International- Not a surprise that Mitt Romney is sitting back on the board now that his presidential campaign is finally over. Marriott was investigated in 2009 for using shell companies to hide profits, something Romney approved of when he was on the board in 1994. Mitt is actually named after the original owner of Marriott, J. Willard Marriott.8. Alexander Cutler, Eaton Corporation- After getting $90 million in taxpayer subsidies to move their headquarters to Cleveland, they stabbed them in the back and moved to Ireland instead. They say they will save $160 million by doing so.

9. Lowell McAdam, Verizon- This company made over $30 billion in profits and got back from the government $951 million. I want their tax accountant. Every Verizon customer paid more in taxes than the corporation did. Why is this acceptable?10. Steve Ballmer, Microsoft- They have investigated by the Justice Department for years for tax avoidance that has reached epic proportions. Most of their profits appear to be being held on offshore accounts, and therefore, not being used to pay their fair share here.

So these people want to gut social programs to fund their own greed. And the Tea Party and the GOP is clamoring for it. Unless we stop this relentless slide of greed, this country is doomed. Read the above and tell me differently.

Monday, March 25, 2013

The EU and the Cyprus government have reached an agreement that will literally steal somewhere between 25-40% of all bank accounts containing over 100,000 Euros (mostly Russian accounts) while closing down their second largest bank, Laika. It and Bank of Cyprus will remain closed until Thursday, while others will reopen tomorrow. Predictably, this has led to bank runs across Europe today, banking stocks nosediving worldwide and fears of economic instability that may lead to a total collapse of the world monetary system.

Now I know that only rich bastards are being affected by this but that is not really the point. If they can steal from them now, how long before they go after everyone? Is our money safe in any bank anywhere now? Perhaps not, as our economies are all being artificially propped up and sooner or later, they will collapse under their own weight. When that happens, will the money junkies not grab everything they can? This is one of the most dangerous precedents set in our banking system and is leading to people trusting banks about as much as the IRS, DHS and a drunken Snooki all wrapped up into one.

Cyprus offshore banking is the main industry of the island, meaning once money starting pouring in, the bankers got drunk with power, manufacturing was all offshored to China, and now they are left holding an empty bag. Sound familiar? It should because that is exactly what all of Europe and the US has done. No country can survive without a manufacturing base especially one competing with slave labor overseas. This scenery always ends badly. And it is.
As the banking sector of Cyprus has been effectively destroyed (would you trust any bank in that country again? No.), a depression is inevitable and they will join Greece, Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Italy in failing economies. The Euro is about to hit a four month low versus the dollar, the Italian and Spanish stock markets are nose diving and trading is being halted for several large banks as their sell options have triggered breakers to stop the slide. None of that is good news for anyone.

Some economists are saying this could lead to a bigger economic slide than the one seen in 2008, something I have been saying for months. Many are still saying that even after all this bank theft nonsense, Cyprus may be ultimately doomed and still have to leave the Euro. As banking is their main industry, no one expects it to continue to be so anymore. Russians are going to flee like their ass is on fire once they can get their money out and move it elsewhere and, most likely, out of Europe entirely. Cayman Islands here they come. This will lead to massive unemployment, more austerity and will be looking just like the PIIGS in no time. The Depression is gaining steam and none of us are safe at this point. Just ask anyone in Greece.
The reason for this total collapse is that faith in the European banking system is wrecked. Banking relies on faith and trust and now, they have neither. Many are going to pull their money completely from the entire system. If banks do not have money to use, they are going to go under and all signs point to a massive bank run across the EU at this point. If your money is no longer safe in your account, plus have no interests accruing due to ultra low rates, why keep it in there? Many are going to keep the bare minimum to pay bills and remove the rest to keep at home. This will collapse the entire banking system worldwide when this occurs. Get ready for it, because it IS coming. Bet on it.
The Cyprus banking system is going to collapse, especially when all the large investors take 100% of their money and leave. I would. Add to that small depositors who see the writing on the wall and remove 90% of their assets. What do you call a bank with no money? A husk. As more and more money gets withdrawn from Cyprus accounts, the more money will be needed to keep it afloat. And that is when austerity rears it's head and, as I am sure will occur, talk of taxing EVERYONE'S account. If you are in Europe and reading this, get your money out of the banking system stat. Unless losing as much as half sounds like a good idea to you. The banks have failed us. It is time for us to return the favor.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

This was a no brainer this week as the EU may have single handedly destroyed any faith people once had in our banking system. This could get ugly fast. Let's see those runner ups in a surprisingly douchebag free week.

1)De'Marquise Elkins- Not to sound too racist but when you see that name, what race do you think of? If you said Icelandic, you'd be way off. This high ultimate douchebag committed one of the single biggest atrocities one can ever commit and I am not talking about the producer of "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo." No this brain power is now facing the chair at seventeen for mugging a woman and when she said she had no money, shot her in the leg and her thirteen month old baby in the face. WTF? Have we become so desensitized that an infant is now fair game? This dick will never see the light of day, but his 14 year old accomplice will be out be the time he is 21. He should be sitting on Elkins lap when they juice his sorry ass. I hope they both get raped in prison many, many times.
2)New England Fisherman- I come from a long line of fisherman in my family. Hell, my cousin Mel used to take us out on his fishing trawler on weekends to catch cod on the Grand Banks. Cod was so plentiful they'd practically jump in the boat. Now the area is closed due to overfishing and rapidly dwindling stocks. This week, the government put strict limits for this years catch that will put many of the fishing fleets out of business. They of course bitched to high heaven with spurious arguments that sounded incredibly stupid. One spokesperson said they needed more fisherman because the fish were getting harder to catch. The reason being they are getting harder to catch is that there are less of them, dumb ass. This is everything that is wrong with this country. When we hear something we don't like, we try to come up with some alternate method that is usually dumber than the original proposition, like fisherman complaining that their livelihood is being decimated. The facts are that fishing stocks are dropping by as much as 90% in some areas, almost all of which is due to overfishing and bottom trawling that is destroying sea life. Pretty soon there won't be any fish left and everyone is out of work then. Time to find a new job, like the rest of us schmucks. Add to that the high acidification destroying coral stocks world wide and we are facing a real disaster. The reason being is the record high CO2 is destroying the waters, you know that carbon problem which the right refuses to admit. Nevermind the fact that we can see what it is doing but to them, it's God's way of telling us homosexuality is a sin. Good grief.
3)Winter- The winter that won't end keeps going. And yes for all you diehard climate skeptics, more moisture in the air, caused by climate change, will make for more serious storms, especially when cold arctic air is added into the mix. There are still above average temperatures world wide we have to worry about which number as high as 10 high records for every low. The climate is changing and not for the better as scientists have said that the carbon footprint we carry is increasing and the chances of keeping the temperatures to below a 2 degree increase by 2100 is not possible anymore. The higher that number gets, the worse things will be. I know a few degrees sounds like a small number, but even one degree can have serious consequences to our fragile ecosphere. The world may be an awful place to live come the end of the century. And with long ages possible due to scientific breakthroughs, perhaps upwards of 150 years, some of us may see it in a world stuffed to the hilt with people.
4)Syria- Rumors are circling that Assad has been killed by one of his own bodyguards. There is no confirmation of that story however. What is not in question is that in the town of Khan al-Assal, somebody, rebel or Assad, used chemical weapons for the first time. Chlorine gas was reportedly used and 26 died, all Syrian soldiers. As soldiers were hit the most likely culprits were the rebels, possibly even Al-Queda. But one cannot discount Assad hitting his own troops and then blaming the rebels to get much needed support from the international community. Israel also fired into Syria today, the disputed Golan Heights, after machine gun fire was aimed at Israeli troops, a dangerous escalation. Again, no one known whether rebel or Assad forces were responsible.
5)North Korea- This week, these douchebags put out another video showing DC in flames. They have done just about everything but spit on our face. They better tone things down because I expect the US is spoiling for a fight right about to now to distract us from the crappy economic news they media keeps sugar coating for us. It's still Taco Bell no matter how you dress it up.

6)DHS- Congress has finally gotten on the ball and is asking DHS and man in drag, Janet Napolitano, why they need billions of rounds of hollow point bullets. As a matter of fact between DHS, the Forest Service, the IRS and millions of people nationwide, bullet shortages have happened to such an extent that some police forces are running out. The DHS is still sticking with their "training purposes" bullshit, which I have conformed as a terrible lie, and Congress is not buying it. It is about time.
7)The Tea Party-This week a video surfaced from Nancy's Pelosi's daughter, Alexandra, who is turning into one hell of a documentary film maker. Her latest was to show just how brainless we have become by asking members of the Tea Party, who are demanding cuts at the top of the lungs, what they would cut from government spending. Every single one could not name one program to cut other than politicians salaries and overseas spending which account for less than 1% of the actual budget. Everything else was off the table. This is why we have elected officials who are supposed to make adult decisions but as of late have been stuck in partisan bickering which is destroying the country. The fact that the electorate is too stupid to understand, well, just about anything at this point, does not bode well. It is the very reason why we have such moronic individuals still in power. Speaking of....
8)Republicans- Still living in some 1950's fantasy world, the GOP was at it again this week. We saw Paul Ryan's plan go up in flames again. The right tried to repeal Obamacare for the 36th time, with no results, costing the American taxpayer more money for fighting against something that cannot be changed. It is the exact same thing with Diane Fienstein fighting against gun laws that a majority of this country does not want repealed. It is all a terrible waste of eveyrone's time. But the GOP was back in crazy mode with stalwarts like Michelle Bachmann (R-MN)leading the charge. During her speech at CPAC this week, she stated that Obama wastes $1.4 billion on dog walkers and chefs, 70% of food stamps go to "bureaucrats," and that scientists could cure Alzheimer's if only we didn't have so many regulations and taxes. None of that is even remotely true. Yet, people keep voting for her. Sigh. When CNN tried to talk to her after the speech, she literally ran away. Rush Limbaugh complimented Beyonce's new song "Bow Down" as what all women should do for their men, even though that is NOT what the song is about (it's about the music critics, dumb ass). Steve Stockman (R-TX) went off on his Twitter account this week about why liberals hate science. He actually said that as if that is even remotely possible. He went off on slamming the left for using oil based products while fighting against them, using "Bronze Age wind power," Oliver North repeated the debunked theory that Iraqi WMD's were moved to the Sudan before US troops got there, which is why Fox News viewers are some of the most misinformed people in the world. And then there was the Bible series on the History channel, which is odd as the Bible is barely history at that. In it, the devil shows up as seen in the picture above. Tell me he doesn't look exactly like the President. This is what some of the loonier sites had to say from the National Memo:

Right-wing conspiracy repository WorldNetDaily viewed the similarity as the latest in a long series of signs that President Obama is Beelzebub, the Biblical “Lord of the Flies.”Not to be outdone, right-wing radio host Rick Wiles posited, “I think God guided the hand of the makeup artist and blinded the eyes of everybody on the movie set while it was being recorded, and the spiritual blinders were removed Sunday night when the program was broadcast nationally on the History Channel.”
Or, the producers are right wing lunatics who saw this as a chance to slam the President once more. These are the exact same people who bitched to high heaven when W's head was seen on a pike in Game or Thrones. But this is fine. Please.
9)The EU- This group may actually be the most destructive force since Hitler. Our banking structure is based on faith and faith alone. The dollar itself is worth nothing. We accept that is worth something because the government tells us so. But what happens when that faith is shattered? We may soon find out because our entire banking structure teeters on a knife's edge due to their unbelievable greed in Cyprus and the EU. After the attempted theft of all bank accounts there went belly up, Cyprus and the EU and scrambling to find a solution. They have raised the possibility of still stealing from everyone's account to just large depositors. In other words, they have run out of ideas how to keep things humming without any real change. The band aids are no longer working and the elites do not want to part with any of their ill gotten gains. Europe is failing as manufacturing disappears which should sound awfully familiar as it is happening here with equally disastrous results. Banks are limiting withdrawals at all ATM's to 100 euros and Cyprus banks will be closed until at least Tuesday. Russia and England are warning their citizens to get all their money out of the banks as soon as possible or risk a total loss. A bank run seems inevitable. Some are saying this could be the equivalent of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand which started both WW1 and WW2. Joy. As someone bet over a billion dollars that the EU would collapse in the next two weeks, that doesn't sound like such a stupid idea. Cyprus may be forced out of the EU, the entire world banking structure could unravel if the derivative market tanks (which may happen if other countries start falling like dominoes) and bank runs may happen everywhere. Tomorrow will be a telling day for the future. Let us hope some sort of idea is reached but I wouldn't hold my breath as the steps necessary to fix things would require arrests, major changes and debt forgiveness. So congratulations to the EU for destroying the planet's faith in banks. You are indeed douchebag of the week.

Friday, March 22, 2013

The Republicans have had another stellar week, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt why they are unfit to even lead a troop of boy scouts. First, we had several Republicans try to block legislation that would allow the Post Office to stay open on Saturdays. As these morons have done just about everything to kill this service by frontloading the company with huge unpayable debt, it is not surprising that they are still on the hunt. Democrats are adding an amendment to an upcoming appropriation bill to keep the Saturday mail coming and save some thirty thousand jobs in the process. The Post Office is not broke. The Republicans made it so.
Then comes this gem that the Paul Ryan Budget plan went down in flames today in the Senate by a vote of 40-59, getting five Republicans to vote against it. Some were not happy with the Medicare voucher plan, others (Tea Party followers) balked on raising taxes on the super rich. Either way, for a third straight year, the budget the House offered was never going to pass and deserve all the blame for not having a budget for the sixth year in a row. Way to go losers.

At least some Republicans are doing their job this week by finally questioning why DHS needs billions of rounds of hollow point ammo. As the MSM has mostly missed this story, except for Forbes, this is a big step forward to some sort of transparency. The official story that these are being used for training purposes is bull as I have talked personally with people who run training exercises for the military, and have done so for decades, and the tell me they have never used hollow point bullets ever for training purposes. The fact that DHS was recently caught using armed cutouts of pregnant women, children and the elderly states a much more nefarious purpose.
So while we watch Nero's mentally challenged brothers fiddle in Congress, the EU is in a full fledged meltdown. Cyprus banks are still closed until at least Tuesday and people are running out of cash as the ATM's are all empty. When they reopen next week, bank runs are expected, as I would certainly be taking my money out of any place that threatens to steal it. Fitch is downgrading Cyprus' status and their exit from the EU may be inevitable. Someone sure thinks so because a nine hundred million Euro bet was placed against the currency over the next two weeks. In other words, someone with a lot of money just bet big time that the Euro will crash in the coming fortnight.

This is not as stupid as it sounds. This one domino could topple the world economy and there is nothing anyone can do about it should it occur. As Cyprus has become an offshore tax haven for Russians with at least $300 billion (probably much, much more), a bank tax would greatly upset the elites as much as the average investor. This was a bad idea from the start and instead of going after the banks and reorganizing them to go after tax cheats, they decided to behave like the TSA and treat everyone as a terrorist. Smart move.
This notion has destroyed any confidence in the EU and the banking system where your money can now be taken as surely if they held a gun to your head. This will have the same repercussions as the statement "Let them eat cake." People are pissed, world wide and the slightest spark could spell trouble, Ben Bernake didn't do himself any favors when he left the door open to so something similar here. Try it and see how many of those 300 million guns you find pointed at you, guys.
Other options they are debating about still is the Chained CPI which would lower the standard of living for everyone not rich. They already cheat us on a inflation rate that has been tinkered with twice over the last few decades, by Reagan and then Clinton. We cannot let this happen a third time. Our inflation rate according to the government is around 2-3%. The actual rate, once food and energy are brought in, the rate rises to 10-11%. They want to lower the rate to 1%, while the actual rate will soar to at least 15%. This is not progress. This is extinction.
We keep hearing that the GDP has been rising almost insignificant levels since 2009, but rising they say. The truth if the matter is that because the inflation rate is being masked, we have actually been losing ground instead, proving my point that this country never left the Depression we have been in since the crash of 2008. When the government screws around with numbers, housing looks robust (it isn't), unemployment is dropping (not even close) and GDP is rising (actually the opposite). Last quarter saw a negative 1% growth, not the 1% gain the MSM gloated about, if we use actual numbers and not made up fairy tales.
Here's the worst news: Inflation is getting worse, as it should considering the steps we are making. As long as we print money ad naseum, inflation will tick up. As long as austerity measures are the only solution, inflation will tick up. And if the EU goes belly up, prices may rise exponentially to hyper-inflationary levels. The next few weeks will let us know if the EU stabilizes or collapses. Pray it doesn't go down and take the world with it. As someone just bet almost a billion dollars it will, what do you think the chances are?

Thursday, March 21, 2013

When you get hit up the head enough times, eventually you get the idea. Not if you are a Republican however which seems to have missed the massive beating the took in November by doing the exact same crap that made people so mad at them in the first place.

We have states like Arkansas and North Dakota passing the most stringiest anti-abortion laws even though a majority of their own people don't support them. We have the Tea Party screaming about deficits, ignoring every single other problem we have. Let me ask you a question for all you deficit hawks out there? When you get laid off from your job, is the first thing you do start paying off your credit card in it's entirety? No, you pay the minimum until you get back into your feet. Not with our government though which they want the debt paid off immediately and damn the consequences.

Now comes word the the House has passed Ryan's awful budget plan 221-207, where every democrat and ten Republicans voted against it. It will now die a painful death in the Senate where it has no hope of even being heard. Even if it did somehow make it through, the President would veto it, and kill it outright, with no hope of overriding it. What a monumental waste of everyone's time. This is no better than Dianna Fienstein trying to get her anti-gun bill passed which of course, it didn't. This is a another waste of time. Can we please focus on things that might pass and help us all?

Republicans spent the last week at CPAC trying to woo woman and minorities to their side, and then in the span of just a day later, ruin it. Mitch McConnell said Hillary Clinton looked like a rerun of the Golden Girls, as if he is anything to look at. Then, they collectively bitched about Obama's pick for heading the Labor Department, Thomas Perez, even though he has more than the credentials needed for the position. The reason being is that he has been a champion for minority rights. And that is why the GOP is filled with racists. They are not even trying to hide it. Good luck with those minority votes come 2014.
The GOP stands for only one thing: greed. And their policies prove it. Lately though, even some democrats are showing their true colors. A bipartisan bill headed for a vote, and written by a democrat from CT (Jim Himes) wants to put even less regulation on the derivative market. This is the same derivative market that helped crash the economy in 2008 and had not been fixed one iota since. And now they want to make it even easier to lose money and tank the economy in the process. By the way, Jim Himes used to work for, you guessed it, Goldman Sachs. This bank rules both sides and until it is removed for the equation, nothing will change until the whole thing blows up in our faces. This is why anyone connected with bankers should never be put into office regardless of party affiliation.
Meanwhile, corporations are fighting for even lower taxes, even though 60% paid no tax and 40% of them made money back from the government in subsidies and tax breaks the rest of us do not get. 200 CEO's are lobbying the government for a lower tax rate of 25% and to loosen restrictions on offshore banking. That is the same offshore accounts that house somewhere between $30 and $300 trillion dollars, or enough money to fix every problem world wide. And they want more because enough is never enough. That is greed to the nth degree.
The GOP is lost and the democrats prove the are beholden to the same interests half the time. We need sanity back or otherwise we are all going to be so screwed, democrat, republican or independent. Unless you have money and lots of it, it won't matter. Start fighting for what is right and ignore the party nonsense. Your life depends on it at this point.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Breaking news as of this writing, the Cyprus government has proposed an addition to the "let's steal money from depositors" plan the EU insanely came up with this week, and a sure fire nominee for next week's douchebag awards. They originally wanted a whopping 40%, instead of the lowered 6-10%, demonstrating their level of greed shows no bounds. In the addition, they said that anyone with less than $20,000 euros in their account won't be affected, which isn't making anyone feel better. Sure, it's $20,000 now but tomorrow you could change your mind and I could watch my money being stolen with no recourse to ever get it back. As interest rates do not exist, having a bank account at all isn't even that necessary. If this ever happens here, I hope the bankers like living behind a high wall because that is the only way they'll ever be safe from a rampaging mob hellbent on their destruction.
However, the Cyprus Parliament, not wanting to be dragged through the streets by an angry mob, is expected to reject the package in total. As this crapatastic idea was being forced down their throats by a banking cabal that has gotten way out of control, Cyprus now faces default, a possible banking collapse, and a domino effect that could ripple world wide.

The EU says they will withhold anymore bailout funds until their demands are met, which isn't too terroristy is it? Not surprisingly, one of the reasons everyone was initially included was because the Cyprus president Nicos Anastasiades refused a levy of more than 10% on deposits over $100,000. Needless to say, either way, this plan was never going to be popular. What they didn't expect, somehow, is the murderous rage being directed at them. Imagine what it would have been like if they had guns?

With the new addition of exempting the new group from the EU bailout package, the government has not explained how it will make up the shortfall? That sounds familiar. Voting is supposed to happen today but has already been postponed twice for obvious reasons. These guys are between a rock and hard place. Agree to the theft and watch their careers, and perhaps even their lives, drop off the face of a cliff. Turn it down and watch their economy collapse. I do not envy their position. They should be taking a cue from Iceland on what their next step should be. It's the only move they have left.
Some in the media are attempting to play this crisis down as one site said "no bank runs reported yet," which would be a neat trick as the banks are closed until at least Thursday. ATM machines have been stripped of funds as people are pulling everything from their accounts electronically so, in today electronic world, that counts as a bank run. Nice try douchebags.

Fear is spreading that this is going to spread to other countries, with Italy singling that they might implement a 15% tax on all accounts as well. Italy has been much calmer with this than Cyprus, which means we may be watching a beta test, to see what the public will accept. Make no mistake about it: this idea is being floated around every banking group on Earth right now. Whether they will implement it or not depends on how we react to it. Italy is not helping.

The Italian economy is in free fall and is at Depression levels, like most of southern Europe. Thousands of companies in Italy are going under every week due a credit crunch where banks won't lend, people don't have money to spend and everything is falling apart. Just like here. Unemployment in Greece and Spain is rising to a whopping 26 % which is actually worse than here, and it has been doing so steadily for the past few quarters. Youth unemployment there is approaching 60% now, a figure not far off from the US.
Italy has an unemployment rate of, allegedly, 11%. I say allegedly as that number seems awfully low for the conditions being seen there and may be using the same distortion tactics we use here to view unemployment. For example, our unemployment rate is around 23%, not 7% as the government tells us as they don't count people not collecting unemployment any more. Trust me, that's a lot of people. The fact their economy is shrinking is not a good sign either.

Manufacturing is disappearing as everything is being built in China. This is leading to widespread poverty as there are not enough jobs and those that are being offered pay a pittance of what people used to make. Just like here. When you compete against slave labor, you always lose.
The bankers are trying to enslave us, to steal everything for us, and thank them for the privilege. Try that crap here and see what happens. I double dog dare them because if they think Cyprus was pissed, try dealing with 300 million guns aimed squarely at them.

This is going to end badly with a possible world wide Depression, hyper inflation and a complete collapse of government services. All because some greedy douches want everything. Don't let them.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Several major stories were totally missed by the MSM this week, two of which are inexcusable. The GOP was a close second with a near non stop parade of stupidity. Let's see those runner ups.

1)Carnival cruises- It been a long time since I've seen a company this badly run. It's been at least a week, perhaps two. Hot on the heels of the PR nightmare Triumph when generators failed and the ship had a long tow back to shore with NO electricity, working toilets or food (unless onion sandwiches are your thing), comes word that not one, but two more ships have had issues. First, the Dream liner cruise was cut short when it experienced similar mechanical problems as the Triumph. Two days later, the Legend liner limped back to port due to a steering issue. WTF? As Carnival is the WalMart of the cruise industry, it appears the MBA's in charge, especially CEO Micky Arison, are cutting corners to maximize profits with the passengers safety a lesser concern. No one should be taking a Carnival Cruise ever at this point, unless you have little regard for your safety or well being. If you have one planned, Mazel Tof.
2)Jamie Dimon- Living up to his last name, this giant douche helped steer JP Morgan into a hole to the tune of over 6 billion dollars. He of course said none of it was his fault. Then some emails turned up that contradicted everything he told us, including Congress. Now if Congress had any balls they'd have him arrested for perjury, but that's as likely as the Washington Senators beating the Harlem Globetrotters. The email to an oversight body within the bank said "I approve," giving his consent to an increase in the amount of risk they could take. He also agreed to a change in the way a trading unit was being used to asses trouble, thereby masking any problems later. By doing this, JP Morgan amassed triple the size of debt they could incur, with disastrous consequences. Yet another case of the rich doing as they please with zero effects while the rest worry about police kicking in our door for the smallest of reasons.

3)WalMart- These guys have spent a lot of time and money trying to convince people that low wages are good for everyone, their workers are happy and productive, and sales this Holiday seasons were record breakers. All bunk. They had a great Black Friday as people hunted for bargains. Every day after that: just awful. As a matter of fact, internal emails say it was the worst season in a decade as customers fled the stores in droves. The reason? No one has any money because retailers like WalMart refuse to pay a livable wage to its workers which is driving them out of the market to buy their stuff. This is economics 101 and no one with an MBA gets it. It is not that they can't afford to pay their workers more. They don't want to.
4)Steve Katz- This hypocrite is an Assemblyman in Westchester, NY who has voted non stop on every single marijuana measure brought before him. After being stopped for speeding, he was found to be in possession of a small bag of pot. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? This is the same ass who had been arrested twice for mishandling dogs in his vet practice, both dismissed. I hate him.

5)The Steubenville Rapists- This week, Trent Mays and Ma'lik Richmond were both found guilty of raping an unconscious girl during a drunken party and filming some of it. This is one of those rare cases were there is good reason to believe this girl was indeed raped and not a he said/she said kind of thing. There were numerous eyewitnesses, video and photo evidence and DNA. Hope you like prison guys because rape might be in your future as well, one that is now ruined. Like your soon to be ex-virgin asshole. Because they were tried as juveniles they will be released by the time they are 21 which is still a few years in hell. Enjoy.

6)North Korea- This week Kim Jung Un "ended" the armistice between the US and North Korea that ended the war in 1953, fired a bunch of rockets into the ocean during military exercises, and displayed military hardware, like the rocket launchers armed with a nuclear warhead that could easily reach Hawaii or Alaska, scaring the piss out of the intelligence community, caught flat footed once again. Sec. of Defense, Chuck Hagel, immediately went into action prescribing things that will take billions of dollars and years to implement, like installing dubious anti-nuke missiles that are supposed to be able to take them down. However, if the North Koreans possess the same Russian maneuverability programs that allow the trajectory to change mid flight, these are useless. This is getting out of hand fast and the smallest miscalculation could lead to a nuclear war.

7)Iran- Not to be outdone on the Armageddon scale of stupid things to do, Iran has launched Navy vessels into the Persian Gulf with a stern warning for Obama to "go home." Bad news guys, that's not going to happen. They claim to be a year away from a nuke which has worked so well in North Korea. One of the dumbest things we ever did was allow North Korea to get one, now many, that have completely destabilized the area. Imagine that in the Middle East which are so much more refined and calm than the Pacific Rim. Excuse me while I roll my eyes. Yet another place where things could go bad fast.
8)Barack Obama- Behind closed doors he has been caught speaking out of both side of his mouth, something I hate when politicians do. To the GOP he has signaled he would like to put the Chained CPI index into effect, a move that will obliterate the middle class and the elderly with higher taxes, an inflation rate that is even more disingenuous than the one we see now and less money for all future SS recipients, like they are living high on the hog now. Imagine in ten years, getting $800 instead of $1100 while prices continue to rise exponentially. The good news is I am not sure how serious he is about this as he told the Democrats that they needn't worry as the GOP is showing little signs if compromise on anything. This could be a ploy to get the GOP in the room and then say later, my side won't agree to these cuts, what can we do instead. Or he could be that dumb to think this is good idea. Only time will tell.

9)India- Yet another woman was raped in India this week, this time a Swiss Tourist making this the go to destination for anyone with a serious rape fantasy. What is going on over there? Have the men completely turned into savages? Mark this as the last place on Earth I want to visit.
10)Republicans- Holy God, it was a razors edge separating these bunch of buffoons from the number one spot. Between Paul Ryan's budget plan that was laughed away by anyone with a brain, including Fox News, and the CPAC non stop parade of morons was a true spectacle of utter garbage. Here it was in a nutshell with what they said and what they meant.

We support the troops. Until they come home and need welfare, food stamps, medical treatment, Social Security and Medicare.

We want to be all inclusive to gays, immigrants and minorities. Unless you are actually gay, an immigrant or a minority.

We want to protect the middle class. By destroying it along.

We want to protect Medicare, Social Security and Medicade. See above.

We want to stop being the party of stupid. By acting like utter retards 90% of the time.
This went on for days. Take Allen West saying this deranged nonsense:

I’m speaking from experience when I tell you that there is nothing on this green earth that a liberal progressive fears more than a black American who wants a better life and a smaller government,” West said, before unwisely drawing a comparing from the Obama administration to the Civil War, the Great Depression, and Nazi Germany. Right.

Brietbart editor Ben Shapiro started doing unintentional stand up this week when he declared on Fox News that the reason Romney didn't win was he didn't criticize Obama enough. Please. This is what makes Brietbart the towering achievement in news reporting it was become right along side World Net Daily, Weekly World News and the Weekly Shopper I get in my mail box once a week.

Texas representative Louie Gohmert gave a "history lesson at CPAC this week with this bon mot:

“I’m not going to debate the merits of whether we should or should not have gone to Vietnam, but what I will tell you is, Vietnam was winnable, but people in Washington decided we would not win it!” “You stupid Americans,” Gohmert claims the Vietcong said at the time. “Don’t you know, if you had bombed us for one more week, we would’ve had to surrender unconditionally?”
That last part of course, was said by absolutely no one except maybe the voices that live within Gohmert's head. Vietnam was winnable but only by bringing the fight to China which would have started a World War and let's face it, Vietnam was not worth that. This guy is a moron. He also went on to blame Jimmy Carter for every bad thing that has happened. And they accuse the left of going back as far as W for all the economic problems which were after all, all his fault? You bet. No logic here.
Sarah Palin gave a speech that was literally a stand up act with nothing other than bad one liners. Here's some of them:

They talk about rebuilding the party. How about rebuilding the middle class?""They talk about rebuilding the GOP? How about restoring the trust of the people?""Let's be clear about one thing: We're not here to rebrand a party. We're here to rebuild a country.""Barack Obama promised the most transparent administration ever. Barack Obama, you lie!""Mr. President, we admit it: You won! Now accept it and step away from the teleprompter and do your job.""Remember no-drama Obama? Now it's all-drama Obama.""More background checks? Dandy idea, Mr. President. Shoulda started with yours.""[Obama] is considered a good politician—which is like saying Bernie Madoff was a good salesman.""We're not here to put a fresh coat of rhetorical paint on our party.""If you don't have a lobbyist in DC, you are not at the table, you are on the menu.""Never before have our challenges been so big, and our leaders so small.""My only advice to College Republicans is: You gotta be thinking Sam Adams, not drinking Sam Adams."

That's the speech. She also took some shots at Mayor Bloomberg and a crack about her breasts. The closest she came to anything resembling a fact was when she rightfully said wages are decreasing as we work longer hours. That's it.

The big winner was right wing nut job Erik Rush who was on Alan Combs show this week saying that Obama was a Marxist dictator who was planning to cancel the next election and name himself king. Nevermind the fact he zero evidence to back any of that up, when asked how likely it was to happen, he responded "fifty percent," which coincidentally is his IQ score.
This is just a smattering of the dumb things Republicans did this week like Bill O'Reilly challenging guest Alan Combs to name one program Obama offered to cut. When he accurately stated Medicare and SS, O'Reilly bizarrely said those aren't government programs. This is the problem with Republicans, even when they are totally wrong, they still think they are right.

11)MSM- This week the major networks, newspapers and even Internet sites missed two of the biggest stories of the week. The first was when a riot broke out in Brooklyn that was so bad martial law was declared by the NYPD. The only places that carried this story at all were local Internet sites and international news groups like Al Jazzera and RT. How is it a riot can break out in a major city and not one newspaper or TV news program mentions it? The whole thing started when a black teen was shot by police, and reports are still sketchy whether he had a gun or not. A riot broke out soon after and 46 people were arrested. The tension simmered for at least three days as the low level riot raged on, resulting in martial law being declared. News crews were kept out of the area but that still doesn't explain why it wasn't even mentioned. Are the powers that be worried about a contagion effect? Speaking of which, the other major story that started on Friday is just being reported to today in some major media outlets, including Bloomberg and Forbes, about the projected bank run about to happen in Cyprus tomorrow. The EU unilaterally has decided to tax all depositors at every bank a rate of 6 to 10% of their accounts. The government itself has not voted on this making many fear the EU has now total control over all banking sectors within their bloc, beyond the reach of local governments and subject to wild ideas. This is leading to a contagion effect that may lead many across the EU to remove money from their accounts. There are many possibilities to this, more of which I will get to in a later column. But the point is, this affects investors in this country and perhaps even our banking system. This is news that should have been mentioned on Friday when it was announced. But that is the media today for you. Worthless. So congratulations MSM you are indeed douchebag of the week.